Pinch Me
by SistaSouljah
Summary: A very late response to a challenge. NS.


Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing.

Author's Note: A very late response to a Snickers challenge.

* * *

When Nick walked into the break room, the first thing he noticed was that it was empty and that he was for once the first of the team to arrive. The second thing he noticed was that dayshift had had a luncheon earlier, the remnants of which were still sitting out on the table. Never one to turn down free food, even leftover food sullied by grubby dayshift paws, Nick sat down and started munching on carrots from the vegetable tray, double and triple dipping the sticks into the ranch dressing as he flipped through what he figured was one of Grissom's entomology journals lying on the table. He became so absorbed in an article about reduvid bugs that he didn't hear three of his coworkers walk in.

"Somebody pinch me," Sara said as she abruptly stopped a few feet inside the doorway, causing Warrick and Catherine behind her to nearly crash into her.

Warrick reached over and did as Sara asked.

"Ow!" Sara whacked Warrick on the arm before rubbing the spot on hers where she'd just been pinched.

"Well you asked for it," Warrick mumbled in his defense. "Dare I ask why?"

"I just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming," Sara explained. "Nick was the first one here," she elaborated after receiving blank looks from Warrick and Catherine.

Nick finally looked up from the journal he was reading to shoot Sara an evil glare.

"_And_, he's eating vegetables," she added, which was another oddity, considering there was a big bowl of potato chips next to the vegetable tray that Nick didn't seem to be touching.

Nick threw a carrot at Sara. "I'm watching my figure." He flashed her a wry smile.

"Well I watch it all the time, and I think you look fine," was Sara's witty comeback.

Nick scoffed. "Does the term 'sexual harassment' mean anything to you?"

"Just helping to keep that big ego of yours healthy," Sara replied with a smirk.

"What are you guys doing in here?" Grissom asked his CSIs as he walked into the break room.

"Uh, waiting for you to hand out assignments?" Nick thought it was obvious.

"Didn't Brass call you? He went down to serve the carny with a warrant for their bumper cars." Grissom directed his remarks at Nick, Sara and Warrick.

"And that's supposed to mean something to us?" Sara was confused.

"I need you and Nick to step in for me and help Warrick with the case we've been working on. I have to take this new one," Grissom explained, gesturing to an assignment slip in his hand. "Cath, you're with me. You're driving." And with that, Grissom turned and walked out, not even waiting for Catherine.

Catherine looked at her three coworkers. "Well have fun guys," she smiled at them before chasing after Grissom.

"Does this case have anything to do with clowns?" Nick asked Warrick. "I hate clowns."

"Who doesn't?" Sara quipped.

"Well my oldest sister for one. Three summers in a row in high school she took this job as a clown, doing kids' birthday parties and stuff," Nick answered. "One of my nephews likes them too. He always dresses up as one for Halloween. Oh, and then one of my old college roommates..."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Let's go." She pushed Warrick in the direction of the door, content on leaving Nick behind if he was going to continue his rambling.

After all three of them headed to the carnival to meet up with Brass, the bumper cars were brought back to the CSI garage to be processed for any evidence pertaining to the murder they were investigating.

As Sara bent over to inspect the seat of one of the small cars with her flashlight, Nick was thankful that she had opted not to change into a jumpsuit, and that the new lab coats were just short enough to allow him to be able to appreciate Sara's very fitted jeans. But before he could do too much appreciating, he heard someone clear his throat behind him. Nick spun around in his chair to see Warrick standing there with his arms crossed and eyebrows raised, clearly indicating he had caught Nick staring. 

"Oh, hey," Sara said before Nick had a chance to speak. "Did Hodges ID those fibers yet?" she asked Warrick.

"That first sample was sheep fleece. He hasn't gotten to the other ones yet," Warrick replied. "I was just on my way to check in on him."

"I'll go," Sara offered. "I need to take a break from this." She peeled off her gloves and tossed them in the trashcan before heading to the trace lab.

As soon as Sara left, Warrick turned his attention back to Nick. "You got it bad, dog," he said as he shook his head and grinned.

"What?" Nick feigned ignorance.

"A little hypocritical to be accusing Sara of sexual harassment, isn't it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Nick continued to play dumb.

"You know you've had a thing for her ever since she came to Vegas."

"I have not." Nick knew he must have sounded like an immature child but didn't care. Getting caught staring at Sara's rear end was embarrassing enough; he didn't want to admit he'd been secretly longing for her for four years on top of that.

"Yeah you have," Warrick insisted.

Nick glared at him, knowing there was no way he could weasel out of the situation. "Okay, so what if I have?"

"I don't know. It's not like anything's going to actually happen between you two."

"How do you know?" Nick was insulted, and had to silently reassure himself that there was no truth to Warrick's statement.

"Because you're too chicken to do anything. You've been staring at her ass for four years and you haven't made a move yet."

"I'm not chicken," Nick lied. He would never admit to anyone but himself that he was indeed scared, scared that he'd profess his love to Sara and she'd not reciprocate his feelings, causing their friendship to be forever ruined.

"Yeah you are."

"Hundred bucks says I can get a date with her by the end of shift," Nick boldly challenged, immediately wishing he could retract the bet.

Warrick raised an eyebrow. "You sure you can afford to lose that much?"

Nick smirked. "Chicken?"

"Hell no. It's on, bro." He shook Nick's hand.

"Good. Maybe you should head to the ATM machine now while things are slow," Nick quipped.

"Funny," Warrick deadpanned. "Before you start thinking about my money, maybe you should start thinking about how to get that date."

"What date?" Sara asked as she walked back into the garage.

Warrick silently dared Nick by raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, nothing," Nick replied, knowing that he definitely didn't want anyone around, Warrick especially, when he asked her.

"Nothing on those fibers, Hodges still hasn't gotten to them yet," Sara told them, slight irritation evident in her voice.

Warrick sighed. "Alright. Well I'll leave you guys alone so you can finish up here." He glanced at Nick as he spoke. "I'll go see if Jacqui's made any progress on all those prints we dumped on her."

"Great. You do that," Nick replied, eager for Warrick to leave, not because he was planning on asking Sara out right then and there, but because he didn't want Warrick to spill the beans about his feelings for her.

Warrick left for the print lab and Nick and Sara went back to work on the bumper cars. Nick gave his full attention to the case and didn't even think about his bet with Warrick until shift was over and he was walking down the hall toward the locker room. When he walked in, he saw Sara there, alone, and he realized if he didn't say anything now he'd be out a hundred bucks, and even worse, he'd lose yet another bet to Warrick.

Still, even with the fear of losing the bet, he wasn't sure he had enough courage to ask Sara out on a date. He had no idea what she'd say because he had no idea how she felt about him. But as he stood next to her and opened his locker, he realized there was a way to find out without having to ask her explicitly. And for some strange reason, Nick felt much more at ease with his solution than simply asking her out on a date.

"Hey, Sara?" Nick shut his locker and turned to her.

"What?"

Without saying another word, Nick grabbed Sara's arm and pulled her toward him as his lips connected with hers in a purposeful, feisty kiss. Sara's clouded judgment due to Nick's tongue in her mouth prevented her from doing what she knew was probably the right thing to do, pull away. Instead, she responded fully, her arms finding their way over his shoulders and around his neck.

Something in the back of Nick's mind was telling him that they should stop; if something was going to happen between them, and from the way Sara was responding to the kiss he had a feeling that there was, he knew it would probably be a bad idea to rush into it. But his body was telling him something else entirely, and so was the look in Sara's eyes when they finally broke apart, starved for oxygen.

"My place is closer," Sara whispered breathlessly, reading Nick's mind.

Some time later, as Sara's head rested on Nick's chest and her fingers traced lazy circles on his stomach, something hanging on the bedroom doorknob caught her eye and she let out a giggle.

"What?" Nick's voice sounded slightly panicked; laughter was not exactly the response he'd expected after what they had just did.

"Chili peppers?" she commented on the patterned fabric of his underwear.

"Well I am hot."

Sara rolled her eyes but couldn't prevent a smile from forming.

"My rhino ones are my favorite though," Nick said.

"Rhino?"

"Yeah, my rhinoceros boxers. They have this big rhino head on the front, and the big horn on his nose is-"

"Okay, I get the picture." Sara cut him off, not wanting to actually hear Nick finish his sentence.

"Well you asked," Nick replied in his defense.

"No I didn't."

"Oh, right," Nick realized.

"I guess you don't need any help feeding that ego after all," she quipped as she poked Nick in his side.

Sara's reference to her earlier comment reminded Nick of the bet he'd made with Warrick, and he realized he'd lost it. "I owe Warrick a C-note," he told Sara.

"Why?"

"I bet him that I could get a date with you by the end of shift."

"Well you technically didn't ask me, but..." she looked up at him with a flirtatious grin.

"I guess this more than qualifies as a date," he smiled.

"Is this how all your first dates end?" Sara cocked an eyebrow. She knew Nick's reputation around the lab as a ladies man was exaggerated; she just didn't know how much.

"Is this how all _your_ first dates end?" Nick mimicked with a teasing tone.

"Hey, I resent that."

"Well then so do I," he shot back.

"Sorry." Sara gave him an apologetic smile.

"Apology accepted." He kissed her forehead, knowing she didn't really mean anything by it. "And if it makes you feel any better, my answer is no."

"Well I guess it does," she admitted.

"Believe me, this was not a spur of the moment decision," Nick assured her. "I've been thinking about this for four years."

"Really." There was a hint of smugness in Sara's tone. She couldn't help but take pride in the fact that someone like Nick actually had feelings for someone like herself.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who doesn't need any help feeding their ego," Nick quipped.

Sara smirked. "I guess we're a perfect match then."

"I guess we are," he replied with a kiss as he wrapped his arms around her. They lay in comfortable silence for a minute until Nick spoke again. "Do me a favor?"

Without waiting for Nick to finish, Sara pinched him on the arm.

Nick smiled. "Thanks," he replied, relieved to find that he really wasn't dreaming.

- The End -


End file.
